CORPUS CHRISTI - Delaying Memorial Coliseum demolition for two months cost the city $56,000, a higher price tag than the city originally estimated.

City Attorney Carlos Valdez said he plans to file a suit in Nueces County next week against the Friends of the Coliseum members who signed a bond agreement promising to pay expenses associated with the delay. The city filed a similar suit in Travis County based on the cost for those delays, which was set at $500, plus the cost of attorney's fees and travel expenses. No action has been taken on that suit, Valdez said.

County Court-at-Law Judge No. 4 James Klager set a $30,000 bond for the Friends of the Coliseum when he ruled that demolition could be delayed. An appeals court later reversed his decision and demolition began May 7.

Demolition originally was expected to be finished by now. Instead, demolition crews expect to be finished by August. All of the asbestos inside of the building has been removed and about half of the asbestos on the roof is gone, according to a report A&R Demolition gave city engineering staff.

Crews are 90 percent finished with the demolition of the exterior walls that aren't supporting the roof. The brick wall on the backside of the building supports part of the building and must be demolished last.

Crews are 75 percent finished with the interior concrete walls and stage and half finished with removing stadium seats and demolishing the mechanical building and restroom building.

After the holiday weekend, demolition crews will continue removing asbestos from the roof and demolishing the interior of the building.

In about two weeks, crews will start to demolish the structural steel roof framing and the concrete roof supports, A&R Demolition project manager Vernon Carr said.

That will be done with a large excavator that has shears attached to the end. The shears act like a giant pair of scissors that will slice the steel roof frame, he said.

Once the roof is removed, which will take about two weeks, the crews will tear down the back wall and stage area.

A portion of the back brick wall will be saved for the city's new veterans memorial, along with four pallets of bricks from the area just under the roof. Crews will chip away dried cement from those bricks before turning them over to the city.

When the crews start hauling debris off site, some lanes of Shoreline Boulevard may shut down temporarily.

After the debris is gone, the crews will repave the parking lot and install an irrigation system on grass they plant where the building's foundation sits.

The project is expected to be complete by August, although most signs of the building will be gone by early July.

The City Council approved a contract with A&R Demolition in February after five years of attempts to redevelop the bayfront landmark. Memorial Coliseum opened in 1954 and closed in 2004 when the city opened the American Bank Center.